This article contains spoilers for Ahsoka episode 6.
Summary
- Ahsoka episode 6 takes us to a new world in a distant galaxy, Peridea, which has strong ties to the main Star Wars galaxy.
- The episode features the live-action debut of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger, and hints at the fate of the entire galaxy.
- Peridea is revealed to be the homeworld of the Nightsisters, and survivors of this enigmatic Force witch cult have been exiled there.
Ahsoka episode 6 takes heroes and villains alike to a distant galaxy, but still finds room for some tremendous Star Wars Easter eggs. Ahsoka Tano is boldly going where Star Wars has never gone before – to a world in a distant galaxy the planet Peridea. This is the first time Star Wars has ever ventured through the intergalactic void, and it made Ahsoka episode 6 a thrilling introduction to something brand new.
The pathway to Peridea has never been trod before in Star Wars canon, but Ahsoka episode 6 reveals the main galaxy has strong ties to it all the same, meaning it features some very familiar faces. This episode features the thrilling live-action debuts of Lars Mikkelsen’s Grand Admiral Thrawn and Eman Esfandi’s Ezra Bridger, with Morgan and Sabine succeeding in their respective missions. Unfortunately, Thrawn isn’t exaggerating when he says Sabine has gambled the fate of the entire galaxy on this – and at the moment, it looks as though she’s lost the wager. Here are all the Star Wars Easter eggs and references in this thrilling episode.
11 A New Star Wars Hyperspace Effect
Ahsoka episode 6 opens with a riff on a familiar sight – hyperspace. Ahsoka Tano is making her way to Peridea with the help of a purrgil, and their intergalactic journey has a different effect to the traditional blue-and-white streaks of hyperspace. This may reflect exotic material in the intergalactic void, or else simply be a result of the purrgil traveling at such phenomenal speeds.
10 “A Long Time Ago…” Is Now Star Wars Canon
Ahsoka asks Huyang to tell her some of the stories he taught at the Jedi Temple, legends of the history of the galaxy. Amusingly, the one Huyang opens with begins “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.” This is one of the legends Baylan has mentioned, of travelers from distant galaxies. If these myths are correct, then this was before recorded history in the Star Wars galaxy.
9 Peridea Is The Homeworld Of The Nigtsisters
Ahsoka episode 6 confirms Peridea was the homeworld of the Nightsisters, an enigmatic cult of Force witches whose magick has always seemed something of a poor fit with typical Force lore. Star Wars implicitly explains why Nightsister magick is so unusual, because it originates in another galaxy. Apparently the Nightsisters were the frist to learn how to travel between the galaxies on purrgil.
8 Surviving Nightsisters Have Been Exiled To Peridea
The Nightsisters had generally been thought extinct, with Morgan assumed to be the sole survivor. But it seems a small group of Nightsisters had effectively been exiled to Peridea, including three powerful Great Mothers – Aktropaw, Klothow, and Lakesis. These names are riffs on those of the three sisters of fate in Greek mythology; Atropos, Clotho, and Lahkesis (appropriately enough, the even refer to the “thread of destiny“). Apparently the Nightsisters could not return from Peridea, because it is a graveyard – where purrgil go when they are dying.
7 Sabine Wren Rides A Howler
Some viewers may wonder how Sabine immediately knows how to ride a creature from another galaxy. The reason is because the howler doesn’t come from Peridea at all – it originates from the main Star Wars galaxy. Howlers appeared in Legends, in the Star Wars: Jedi Knight games, where they’re native to Yavin 4. Ahsoka has adapted the Howlers a little, making them less reptilian.
6 Baylan Remembers Order 66 & The Fall Of The Jedi
The relationship between Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati is a fascinating one; it feels as though Shin knows precious little about Baylan’s past, and still less about his plans for her. One conversation in Ahsoka episode 6 sees Baylan remember Order 66 and the burning of the Jedi Temple, and Shin is visibly fascinated. Baylan may not consider himself a Jedi, but he confesses he misses what they were supposed to stand for.
5 Baylan Describes The Cycle Of Light & Darkness
Baylan reveals he’s come to Peridea seeking a way to break the cycle of light and darkness the galaxy has been trapped in for millennia. He’s right; the galaxy has been locked in a cycle of night and day, light and dark, for at least 20,000 years. There were dark side cults before the Sith, and when the Sith emerged, they and the Jedi vied for control of the galaxy. It’s quite possible the cycle goes back even further than that.
4 Thrawn’s Flagship, The Chimera
Ahsoka episode 6 unveils Grand Admiral Thrawn’s flagship, the Chimera, a Star Destroyer that he customized – and even painted. The decorations are perfectly in keeping with Thrawn, a character who’s always loved studying artwork. It’s thrilling to see the Chimera in live-action.
3 Baylan Senses A Power Stirring On Peridea
Baylan tells Shin that he senses something stirring on Peridea, something vast and powerful, which he believes he can use to break the cycle of light and dark. His precise words evoke memories of Palpatine himself; in Chuck Wendig’s “Aftermath” trilogy, one of the Emperor’s confidants remembered something similar.
“Outside the known galaxy is an unexplored infinity, Palpatine explained, one closed off by a labyrinth of solar storms, rogue magnetospheres, black holes, gravity wells, and things far stranger. Any who tried to conquer that maze did not survive. The ships were obliterated, or returned to the galaxy devoid of travelers.Communications from those explorers were incomprehensible, either shot through with such static as to make the content useless, or filled with enough inane babble to serve as a perfectly clear sign that the explorer had gone utterly mad out there in isolation.”
It’s possible Star Wars is retconning this, with Palpatine mistaken for believing he was sensing something in the Unknown Regions.
2 The Return Of Ezra Bridger
Sabine successfully finds the missing Jedi Ezra Bridger. Ezra has essentially gone native on Peridea, but unsurprisingly he’s found that easy to do; he always possessed a talent for bonding with people and creatures on an empathic level, and that’s clearly allowed him to make friends even on Peridea. Ezra really is able to fit in anywhere.
1 Thrawn’s Army Of Night Troopers
Finally, Thrawn’s soldiers are described as “Night Troopers.” The designation is an interesting one, similar to the name “Death Trooper” – one that’s already been used in canon, but in Legends referred to zombie stormtroopers. Given Thrawn is working with the Nightsisters, it’s entirely possible his army are undead. If so, Ahsoka is headed in a very dark direction indeed, explaining why Thrawn believes he can conquer the galaxy.
Ahsoka releases new episodes Tuesdays at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Disney+.
